Publishing Open Access in RSA journals

Publishing Open Access in RSA journals

Authors can choose to publish Open Access in any of the RSA’s journals, either by selecting the Open Access publication route when publishing in one of our hybrid journals or by publishing in the RSA’s flagship Gold Open Access journal, Regional Studies, Regional Science. A complete list of the RSA’s hybrid journals can be found below.

Where an APC needs to be paid for an article (in either one of the RSA’s hybrid journals or in Regional Studies, Regional Science), support to cover the cost of the APC is available for some authors. Information on the type of support available is detailed below.

If you choose to make the final version of your article Open Access, there will often be an associated article publishing charge (APC). APCs vary by journal and may depend on the type of article you’ve written. However, there are a number of funding options available to help authors cover these charges. Information on the type of support available is detailed below.

Publishing in Regional Studies, Regional Science (Gold Open Access)

Authors may be eligible for an APC discount or a full APC waiver when publishing in Regional Studies, Regional Science.

*Please note that multiple discounts and waivers cannot be used.

**Discount and waiver applications are verified at the point of the original manuscript submission and cannot be applied retrospectively.

There are a number of agreements between institutions and the journal publisher, Taylor & Francis, to help authors publish Open Access. Visit this page to find out if your institution is covered by an Open Access agreement and for information on any eligibility criteria that may apply. Please note that the corresponding author must be based at an institution included in one of these agreements in order for the cost of the APC to be covered. The agreement must cover fully open journals to be applicable for Regional Studies, Regional Science.

Support for RSA members

RSA members are eligible for a 20% APC discount. To request your discount code, please contact journals@regionalstudies.org and include your membership number. Authors must be current members of the RSA at the point of submission and acceptance to qualify for the discount. Information about RSA memberships can be found here.

Please add your discount code to the submission form when submitting your manuscript for peer review to ensure your discount is applied.

Support for authors from low and middle-income countries

Corresponding authors whose primary affiliation is based in a low or middle-income country may be eligible for a 50% discount or full APC waiver through Taylor and Francis’s World Bank and EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries) programs. More information including the full list of participating countries can be found here.

To apply for this waiver, please follow the prompts on the online submission form when submitting your manuscript for peer review.

Support for early career researchers

Every year Regional Studies, Regional Science hosts two open calls for early career researchers to submit their work to the journal’s Early Career Mentored Paper section. This program supports early career researchers through the peer review process by assigning them an editorial mentor. To be eligible, the early career researcher must be a current PhD student or within five years of receiving their PhD. Authors who are selected for the mentorship scheme are also required to become RSA Members prior to the submission of the full manuscript and for the duration of peer review. Authors may apply for a student, early career or corporate membership. For more details on RSA membership, please go to www.regionalstudies.org/membership.

APCs for authors selected to contribute to this section are funded in full by the RSA. Information on the program, including eligibility criteria, deadlines and how to apply, can be found here.

Successful applicants will be instructed to request a waiver code from the journal editorial office before submitting their manuscript for peer review. The waiver code should be added to the online submission form to ensure the waiver is applied.

Publishing Open Access in a hybrid journal

Hybrid journals allow authors to publish their work through the traditional subscription model or Open Access. The RSA’s hybrid journals are:

There are a number of agreements between institutions and the journal publisher, Taylor & Francis, to help authors publish Open Access in these journals. Visit this page to find out if your institution is covered by an Open Access agreement and for information on any eligibility criteria that may apply. For example, authors based at UK institutions may be covered by the JISC transformative agreement. Please note that the corresponding author must be based at an institution that is included in one of these agreements in order for the cost of the APC to be covered.

Authors of accepted manuscripts will be asked to choose whether they would like to publish their article as subscription content or Open Access when they receive their Author Publishing Agreement. No waiver or discount code is required at the point of submission.